AN on-screen cannoli challenge has turned into a catering cliff-hanger as a North-East apprentice fulfilled his dream of meeting his culinary hero.
The world must wait until August for the official screening of the global TV phenomenon the Cake Boss on which cannoli king Buddy Valastro accepts a challenge from a Darlington College student.
Apprentice chef Tomas Wood will be seen standing toe to toe world championship boxing-style with Buddy as they embark on a cannoli bake-off.
But the result is being kept under wraps until the Cake Boss episodes are screened at the end of the summer.
The 17-year-old, of Eggleston in Teesdale challenged Buddy to the bake-off after visiting New York on a Darlington College study trip.
For the past weeks Tomas has been perfecting his recipe for cannoli, a cylindrical pastry with a cream filling, lacing the centre with apple and cinnamon, before flying back to New York for the bake-off.
The two chefs prepared their ingredients in Carlo’s Bakery in Hoboken, with the bake off taking place in front of customers in one their shops.
Piles of cannoli were placed in red and blue corners. Shoppers sampled a cannoli from each camp and placed a corresponding coloured disc in a sealed bucket.
The contest has already gone viral with 26,800 likes on Facebook in the first hour of Buddy posting it and 21,000 on Instagram.
Tomas has been receiving messages from across the world and now has more than 1,000 internet friends.
“Buddy is my complete hero and he and his family were just so nice, so genuine,” said Tomas, who works at Eggleston Hall, and is studying Level 3 patisserie and confectionary.
“It was a mind-blowing experience and the best moment of my life. It is killing me keeping the secret but there is a lot at stake so it has to be done.”
He was accompanied to New York by two Darlington College staff, his tutor Donna Joyce and Louise Warren Temple.
Donna said: “Buddy asked Tomas what he wanted to be and he replied ‘I want to be like you because you are my hero’. I was filling up. Then Buddy gave him a great big hug. It was fabulous.
“Buddy could not believe we had travelled to New York twice in a matter of weeks to see him. I invited him to visit Darlington College and he said to speak to his PA to arrange it, which would be amazing.”
For more information on opportunities at Darlington College visit www.darlington.ac.uk.
